Complete AR Newb

[BayouBob]

Welcome to the gang. You will learn to like this bunch of social outcasts. (They are all deaf from shooting Thumper so they don't function to well in polite society.) As long as your scope is good at withstanding recoil any good medium range variable will work. I haven't had very good luck with Leupolds holding up under recoil but they do make a nice kaleidoscope. Nikon makes a line called Slughunters that are designed for the recoil of magnum slugs out of fairly light shotguns and I like mine. I've been hankering for a Nikon African so I hope Bigboreshooter will give us a thorough report on them. Midway sells an AR Stoner mount for AR's that gives just the right scope height and it is quite a bit less expensive than the others. It's a little more trouble to put together the first time because of the number of screws but it seems real strong while not adding a lot of weight. Have a ball and keep us informed of your successes.

[commander faschisto]

I've got the Nikon Slughunters in 1.65-5x and 3-9x, both with Nikon cantilever mounts, and there's apparently nothing you can to do them to knock them off kilter. Natchez usually has refurbished models that are way cheaper (and have been checked by a tech). They work for me...

[bigboreshooter]

I love the African, dead on 50 yards to 300. I also have the 1-4 .223 Nikon on my ORC bushmaster, they are identical except for turrets. 223 is quick change pull and twist where African is unscrew cap style.Very happy with both. Clear crisp picture, plenty of light gathering from dawn to dusk. Eye relief is probably best feature over all, plenty of space with thumper is good.

[commander faschisto]

Dittos here...mine have excellent optics, too, and the BDC reticle circles are exactly right for Hornady factory ammo.

EDIT: I should mention that I'm using them on a 20" upper, not that there's a huge difference with the 16"...

[ColoradoKid]

Wow! Instantaneous wealth of warm welcomes and useful info. I'm diggin this campfire!

I did look into those muzzleloader scopes and almost pulled the trigger on the Nikon, until I came across the Leupold VXR series. Thing I like about them is they have a very small illuminated red dot in the center of the reticle. I'm thinking this might actually work for closer quarters with the scope powered down to 3. I did read one review where someone had actually tried this theory and they said it worked quite well. Still a lil skeptical though.

@ bigbore: I figured a decent eye relief was in order with the thumper. What distance would you recommend as a minimum to prevent scope-eye? That Leupold that I'm looking at is 3.7" and, from what I've read, the thumper hits like a .308 so I figure I should be good with just a hair under 4" eye relief?

[9x19MdM]

Wow! Instantaneous wealth of warm welcomes and useful info. I'm diggin this campfire!

I did look into those muzzleloader scopes and almost pulled the trigger on the Nikon, until I came across the Leupold VXR series. Thing I like about them is they have a very small illuminated red dot in the center of the reticle. I'm thinking this might actually work for closer quarters with the scope powered down to 3. I did read one review where someone had actually tried this theory and they said it worked quite well. Still a lil skeptical though.

@ bigbore: I figured a decent eye relief was in order with the thumper. What distance would you recommend as a minimum to prevent scope-eye? That Leupold that I'm looking at is 3.7" and, from what I've read, the thumper hits like a .308 so I figure I should be good with just a hair under 4" eye relief?

Check out the Redfield's too!
http://www.redfield.com/_media/download ... 9x40mm.pdf

[bigboreshooter]

Mine is a tad farther forward than I would like because my rear sight is thicker than I thought it would be but with the nikons generous eye relief I am still in the 3 1/2 inch range I like with stock adjusted for winter coat or at 4 inches shooting in warm weather. That's why I like carbines, good in the truck or walking the fields. But with the wolf heavy spring and endine buffer along with the izzy brake mine barely moves any more when I shoot it.

[commander faschisto]

bigbore...there are several very low profile rear BUIS...I have: http://www.promagindustries.com/Product ... Code=PM200 and http://www.gggaz.com/mad-back-up-sight- ... rture.html, and they leave lots of room for my Nikon Slughunter eyepiece bell.

[bigboreshooter]

I looked at those and similar pieces but price tag made my brain hurt more than the ones I bought. I like mag pull's the most just from looks not experience, but front is not recommended for gas block installation. Looked into different hand guard but didn't like prices of carbon and I don't like cheese graters.

[commander faschisto]

Did you check the Hogue overmolded forends???